PATCHOGUE, NY –
A Long Island man is facing assault and weapons charges for allegedly attacking three people with a machete at a sporting goods store.
Suffolk County Police said Saturday that the attack happened the previous afternoon at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Patchogue, about 50 kilometers east of New York City.
Treyvius Tunstall allegedly asked to buy a rifle but left after being asked for identification. According to police, he then slashed a store manager with a machete and attacked two others as he fled.
The store manager suffered injuries to the torso, hands and head, Suffolk County Sheriff Rodney Harrison said Saturday. Prosecutors said Tunstall severed a tendon in the store manager’s arm during the attack. Newsday reported.
The manager was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
One customer was stabbed in the head with a machete in the back and a person in the parking lot was slashed in the arm and shoulder, according to police. Both victims received first aid at the scene for minor injuries.
Police caught Tunstall nearby. Through his court-appointed attorney, the 22-year-old West Babylonian pleaded not guilty at Saturday’s trial to three counts of assault and six counts of weapons, and was ordered to hold $400,000 bail. or $800,000 bond.
According to Harrison, Tunstall went to Dick’s store on the Bay Shore, about 25 miles away, in the early afternoon and bought a machete, a knife and a backpack but was told to go to the Patchogue store if he I want to buy a rifle.
Police were unable to determine a motive for the attack, Harrison said.
